The premise is that the stock market usually rises in January, as investors that had sold out of their holdings in December, to book profi ts and offset losses, buy back into the market, creating a wave of buying pressure.

According to research conducted by IG Markets, those years that see positive growth in markets in the first month go on to have a higher average return for the whole year.

On average the FTSE 100 rose 11.94pc, the S&P 500 rose 13.88pc and the Dow Jones rose 13.99pc in the years with positive growth in January compared to average growth of 7.43pc, 8.85pc and 9.34pc respectively in years that did not.

While 2013 has enjoyed a strong first day of trading, David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets, said there was still "plenty to be concerned about".